Sociological Lukes versus moral Lukes: Reflections upon the second edition of Power: A radical view by Steven Lukes

摘要

The second edition of Power: A radical view includes two additional chapters which Lukes uses to reflect upon the various debates that arose from the reception of the immensely successful first edition. These later chapters are actually longer than the original, which means that this is more than what is usually meant by a second edition; rather it is closer to a new book.rnThe debates that Lukes analyses in the new chapters centre on the following questions: is power an essentially contested concept (2005, p. 110)? To what extent is the concept of false consciousness theoretically defensible (2005, p. 124)? What is the relationship between agency and structure (2005, p. 69)? If the debate from Dahl, Bachrach and Baratz, to Lukes entails an unfolding of various dimensions of power, could it be argued that Foucault reveals a 'fourth dimension' of power, as argued by Digesser (1992) (Lukes 2005, p. 88)? Is it the case, as argued by Kenny (1975), that the three dimensional debate, including Lukes, fell foul of the 'exercise fallacy' (Lukes 2005, p. 70)? Did Lukes ignore 'power to' in favour of 'power over' as argued by Morriss (2002)? (Lukes 2005, pp. 64-5) What is the relationship between power, human freedom and authenticity? (Lukes 2005, pp. 85 and 114-124).